Public Art and Public Space

Topic outline

General

Public Art and Public Space

Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:30 to 12:50

Appletree

According to social critic Rosalyn Deutsch, democratic (public) space is space which fosters the expression and exchange of heterogeneous ideas. This class is an investigation of how public art both fosters and prevents this functioning of public space. We will look at a series of examples, both historical and contemporary, of public art and the public discourse that surrounds it in the United States and in other nations across the globe. Topics to be investigated include the relationship between art and politics, the nature of public space vs. commercial space, the connection between the ideal of community, social place and public art, and the use of public art in the creation of collective memory and collective identity.